At Paris Design Week, Lalique turns crystal into floating balloons and fluttering fabric

Inside Lalique’s Paris showroom, an imposing townhouse in the 8th arrondissement, the French door panes and handles are masterful works of crystal, reflecting the maison’s meticulous attention to detail. It was here that the brains behind the operation, creative and artistic director Marc Larminaux, presented the brand’s 2026 collections during Paris Design Week.

Lalique’s central offering is ‘Air de Lalique’. Founded in 1888 by René Lalique, a passionate admirer of nature, the brand has always drawn inspiration from the natural world – and more recently, from the elements, which this collection continues to explore. It transforms the intangible into crystal, with pleats, grooves and rivulets of undulating pattern. ‘Designing around air allows us to explore lightness without fragility. It invites us to design not only forms, but sensations,’ says Larminaux.

‘Air de Lalique’ is presented in two iterations: Chapter I, available from March 2 2026, features signature pieces such as the ‘Alizé’ vase, whose colour palette evokes the warmth of a sunset, alongside limited editions in hand-applied rose gold leaf that shimmers like captured light. The collection also includes the ‘Alizé’ bowl, a wide form balanced on three feet, seemingly lifted by an invisible current.

‘Chapter II is unified by the idea of air as movement captured in crystal – whether through light, illusion or elevation,’ continues Larminaux. Launching on September 1 2026, the second iteration of ‘Air de Lalique’ centres around the ‘Alizé’ lighting collection. Each piece – portable lamps, desk lamps, table lamps, wall sconces and ceiling installations – unfolds like fabric moving in the breeze, diffusing light to create a soft, emanating glow.

2026 marks the centenary of the ‘Tourbillons' vase, once assumed to be the handiwork of René Lalique but later discovered, through archival research, to have been designed by his daughter, Suzanne Lalique Haviland, in 1926. The occasion is celebrated with a new edition finished with a coral patina. ‘Revisiting the 'Tourbillons' vase reminds us why Lalique exists: to transform nature, movement and light into crystal,’ says Larminaux.

Larminaux also introduced ‘Teddy Air’, his own personal experiment. These sweet-coloured bear sculptures appear inflated, like balloons, with pink and blue iridescent lusters suggesting a metallic sheen. ‘[They embrace] tenderness and nostalgia, while [other collections] reconnect with Lalique’s naturalistic heritage,’ says the creative director. ‘Both are legitimate expressions of the maison. Lalique has always oscillated between audacity and poetry.’

The creative director reflects on the brand’s evolving identity: ‘I hope [people] will understand that Lalique is not defined by a single era or style. It is a living maison that evolves… while remaining rooted in its values.’ In that spirit, it has ventured into artistic collaborations for the first time: the recurring ‘yawning man’ figure from the work of Chinese cynical realism artist Fang Lijun is brought to life in three dimensions using the lost-wax technique, an ancient method for crafting metal and glass objects. Unlike traditional Lalique pieces, Lijun embraces imperfections, with each head a swirling mass of bubbles and bleeding colour.

From the poetic fluidity of air captured in crystal to collaborations that blur the line between art and craft, Lalique demonstrates in its Paris presentations that true artistry lies not only in preserving tradition but in reimagining it for the future.